Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Sometimes, people fight
Boy, we're all awfully cranky lately. Maybe it's the holidays and the stress that comes with it for a lot of people. Maybe it's the fact that Jason Marquis is now on the Cubs. Maybe everyone is upset they weren't named Time Magazine's person of the year.
But it seems that most people are cranky about the NBA brawl that took place this past weekend between the Nuggets and Knicks. Most notably (at least at high altitudes), Northwest Airlines is positively indignant, saying they will remove their in-flight magazine from their flights, because Carmelo Anthony is on the cover.
DETROIT -- Northwest Airlines has pulled an in-flight magazine that features NBA scoring leader Carmelo Anthony on the cover.
The Denver Nuggets star received a 15-game suspension from the league for his role in Saturday's brawl with the New York Knicks.
A Northwest spokesman said the airline didn't want to appear to condone the behavior of Anthony and other players during Saturday's game.
Chris Mannix, of SI.com, is outraged -- outraged! -- at the fight.
I'm an extremist. Brawls like this put a pox on a league desperate to prove it deserves to be as highly regarded as the NFL or Major League Baseball. Athletes who put fans at risk -- and make no mistake, that is exactly what several players did Saturday night -- deserve to be struck down with an iron fist, their punishment so severe that the mere thought of doing something like that again makes them cringe.Eli Gieryna, of TG10, doesn't give a rip.
Because athletes fight all the damn time. They're hyper-competitive people who wouldn't have reached this point in life if they weren't intense, tightly-wound individuals. And sometimes that passion and pride boils over in stupid ways.
How many bench-clearing brawls do we see every year in baseball? Ten? Twenty? Hockey players are practically required to get in fights, and many fans are disappointed if they don't see one. The NFL has plenty of pushing and shoving, and it'd go further if everyone wasn't entirely covered in padding.
But since the NBA suffered its second brawl in three seasons, the league has a "black eye" and a "serious problem" on its hands because of the ... wait for it ... the "thugs" that are tarnishing the game.
Malarkey.
Mike freaking Malarkey, I say.
Truth be told, I find it remarkable that this doesn't happen more often. Especially when the Knicks are involved. Whenever a bad team is getting pummeled, millionaire athletes get frustrated. Frustration leads to emotions and sometimes that boils over.
Need I mention again that a standard baseball fight will include up to 50 people? And those get shown on Sportscenter for our amusement, and then people forget that it happened.
Of course, rarely are baseball players referred to as "thugs." That's a whole other column though, I suppose. Sadly, it'll probably be written by Scoop Jackson.
Obviously the fight was wrong. And Carmelo Anthony did come across as less-than-tough when he threw a punch and then ran backwards. But it's just a fight. They happen all over the place between men (and women) every day. No one was killed. No one was even seriously hurt.
So all I'm saying is, calm down. Sometimes, people fight.
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Chris Mannix, David Stern, Skip Bayless, et al., don't care about black people.
Also Northwest Airlines.
Come on, there's a white guy in that photo above.
Of course, he's playing peacemaker.
There goes my theory.
Wait, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this. Wasn't everyone named Person of the Year by Time Magazine? In a way? Along with me? Maybe Carmelo Anthony doesn't use the internet enough to qualify. Or, you know, read.
When I was growing up, I would have fist fights with my siblings all the time. It was called "becoming a man."
By "siblings," I mean "only sister."
Just LOOK at Nate Robinson in that photo. Don't you just want to slug his bitch-ass in the face? What a little turd.
Man, no kidding. I also like how you came back 24 hours later to tell us that.
Really, I like it.